Clothes-line support.



J. MCCARTHY & T. A. McCARTY.

CLOTHES LINE SUPPORT.

APiLICATIQN FILED APR. 8,1915- Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

W1 mamas/w final Wa.

rrn

JOHN T. MeoAnrHY AND rnnononn A. MQCARTY, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

, CLOTHES-LINE SUPPORT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

Application filed April 8, 1915. Serial No. 20,102.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN T. MCCARTHY and THEODORE A. McCAnTY, citizen of the United States, and subject of King of Great Britain, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Clothes-Line Supports, of which the following is a specification.

The invention has for its general object to provide for shifting the end of a pulley clothes line from its normal position exteriorly of a window, to a point well within the room of which the window forms an opening, and this for the purpose of permitting the operator to attach or hang clothes to the several portions of the line as these are successively pulled into the room, rather than requiring the action of leaning out the window for the purpose of attaching the clothes to the line as is invariably required with a line so connected to the window frame or to the wall of a house as to prevent its being removed for the purpose of hanging clothes thereon. And to this end the invention resides in providing a clothes line of such length as will extend from the pole or support to which its outer end is attached, to the desired distance in a room; and in providing a support for the inner end of the line and in adapting the support to efi'ect'an adjustment of the line. to the distance which the inner end of the line may be moved from the outer end thereof.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from that embodiment of our invention of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, in which I a Figure 1 is a side elevation of the inven tion in use-and showing it adjusted to a position outwardly beyond the window. Fig.

2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the inner end of the line retracted into a room and approximately in the position it will occupy, while attaching the clothes to the line. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of a form of bracket for supporting the draw rod in its retracted position. Fig. 4 is a detail side elevation of the bearing for the draw rod.

Theinvention is based upon the principle each with respect to the other but movable with respect to the fixed pulley, any" change in the positions between the fixed pulley and the movable pulleys, within the limits afforded by the rope or belt, will not operate to disturb the normal position of the belt or rope either by causing the same to slacken or to render it tighter on the pulleys and this by reason of the fact that the sum of the distances of the movable pulleys from the fixed pulley will at all times be constant within the limit of adjustment afforded by the rope.

In the drawings a indicates a fixed point, I) and a movable points, and d an endless clothes line one end of which is trained around the fixed points a-b and c, and the other end of which is attached to a pulley located at some distant point, and not shown.

The movable points I) and 0 are connected to a common support and consequently the position of each is fixed" with respect to the other, but the support to which the. points are connected is movable in opposed directions so that the movable points 7) and 0 may be successively moved toward and away from the fixed point a for distances within the limit of movement prescribed for the support. In so moving the movable points toward and away from the fixed point a, it will be observed that the distance of point 7) from point a plus the distance of point 0 from point a, will remain constant and consequently no tightening or slackening in the line between the fixed point a and the hereinbefore mentioned distant point (not shown), will be had.

In the embodiment shown the fixed point a includes a pulley 5 rotatably mounted in a yoke 6whi'ch is suitably connected, such as The support for the .movable points I) and c is, in the embodiment shown, a draw rod 14.

Suitable structures are associated with the end portions of the draw rod and with the yokes 11 and 13 to admit of connecting the draw rod to the yokes. For convenience in illustration we have shown this connection to be in the form of hooks and eyes 15 and 16, the hooks 15 being mounted on the ends of the rod and arranged so as to merge into shouldered portions as shown. A support is provided for the draw rod 14 and for convenience in illustration, we have shown the support to comprise a base plate 17 attached to the window frame 8 and adjacent to the fixed point a. The base plate is formed with a laterally extending arm 18 the outer end of which terminates in a relatively long guide tube 19 which loosely receives the draw rod 14 and into which is screwed a thumb screw 20 which, when turned into binding engagement with draw rod 14, holds the said draw rod against sliding movement. By preference the tube 19 is so disposed as to support the draw rod 14 horizontally,

and for convenience the draw rod is shown disposed above the fixed point a. By arranging the guide tube in alinement with the shouldered portions of the hooks, it will be obvious that when the rod is moved to its inner or outer position,-the shouldered portions will abut the ends of the guide tube and thus limit the inward or outward movement of the rod and thereby prevent the casual separation of the line from the several pulleys.

The draw rod is operated by grasping the inner end thereof and it will be noted by reference to the drawing that an actuating member in the form of an operating handle 21 is attached to the said inner end for convenience in manipulating the draw rod. When the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 1 the line may be either out of use or have apiece of clothes 22 arranged thereon for drying in the air. It will be noted now by reference to that figure that the support for the draw rod is arranged for a distance from the sash 9 to permit the operating handle 21 being moved to a point clear of the path of movement of the said sash, so that the sash may be readily lowered or raised. And when it is desired either to remove or hang clothes from a point well within the room, the draw rod is pulled inwardly by taking hold of the operating handle 21 and pulling in the required direction, the sash 9 having first been raised out of the path of movement of the draw rod. The inward pull is continued on the draw rod until the same occupies approximately the position shown in Fig. 2. Now it will be seen that in the act of hanging clothes a piece of clothes may be attached to that portion of the line between the points a and 0. This done the line is pulled so as to run the piece of clothes outwardly through the window and bring a succeeding portion of the line in position for the purpose of attaching thereto a second piece of clothes. By gravitationally supporting the pulleys from the hooks as shown, it is obvious that the line will always be held in an operative line guiding position. The foregoing operation is then continued as with the ordinary form of pulley clothes line. It will be understood that when the parts are positioned as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the set screw 20 is screwed into binding engagement with the rod 14 and in order to have the said rod braced at a plurality of points during the operation of hanging clothes on the line or removing the clothes, an auxiliary guide in the form of a bracket is employed and is normally disposed beyond the path of movement of the rod. This bracket includes an angular shaped attaching plate 23 which is attached to the inner end portion of the side of the window frame and a swinging arm 24 pivotally connected at one end to the outwardly extending side of the attaching plate Fig. 1 to that shown in Figs. 2 and 3. When the arm 24 is adjusted into the horizontal, a notch 26 in the upper side thereof will receive the drawrod 14 and provide a bearing therefor. When adjusting the draw rod from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 1, the arm 24 is folded downwardly by first disengaging the latch 25 from the detent. lVhen the arm is so folded it is arranged out of the path of movement of the operating handle 21.

WVhat is claimed as new is:

In a clothes line support, the combination with a bracket adapted to be fixed to the frame of a window and provided with a relatively long guide tube, of a rod slidable in said tube and provided at its outer end with a fixed hook merging into a shoulder at the outer extremity of the rod, the guide tube being disposed directly in the path of the shouldered portion of the rod to form a stop therefor to limit the movement of the rod beyond a fixed point, an actuating device extending from the opposite end of the rod and merging into a shoulder at the inner end of the rod, the guide tube being also alined with and disposed in the path of the second shoulder to limit the outward movement of the rod, a hook carried by the actuating member and horizontally alined with the first hook, a set of pulleys respec leys, the said tube by being disposed in of two subscribing witnesses, this 29th day the path of the mentioned shoulders also of March, 1915.

having the office of a means to prevent the JOHN T. MCCARTHY. casual separation of the line from the sev- THE-O. A. MCCARTY. 5 eral pulleys in adjusting the rod. Witnesses:

In testimony whereof, We have signed our JOHN R. MADDEN, names to this specification in the presence WILLIAM R. STAFFORD.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents,

Washington, D. O." 

